


You're Carrying Too Many Feelings

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Dimitri gets hooked on an indie game, Dimitri ships Alphys/Undyne, Feels, Friendship, Gaming, Gen, Light Angst, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), The Abyss has Video Games, Undertale Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: In which Garreg Mach has secret video game PCs and Steam in the Abyss and Dimitri gets addicted to an indie game with monsters and skeletons.
Kudos: 8
Collections: FE3H Kink Meme





	You're Carrying Too Many Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** For whatever reason, Dimitri has started playing the popular indie game Undertale. The problem is that he ends up too emotionally invested in the game's story and characters... Modern AU is cool, but canon universe that has video games for unexplained reasons? Also cool.

If there was one good thing to be said about Forbidden Technology, it was this thing known as a Gaming PC and its component Steam. It wasn't easy, finding time to sneak down to the Abyss to play with them and hide it from the vehemently anti-technology Lady Rhea, and as someone whose home territory was allied so closely with the church one would think it would be harder for Dimitri to sneak around. But the pull of curiosity was too strong.

In the beginning he'd felt his way around Steam, sampling a few games that caught his attention or were recommended to him by his classmates. Dedue was a big fan of Stardew Valley, Felix had latched onto The Purring Quest (to his embarrassment), and Ingrid was obsessed with something with a very long name starring an armless white man and his portly rival who wore a red mask with glowing green eyes. Marianne had also mentioned a few games featuring birds, but that he might want to keep away from one of them as it was "very depressing."

Eventually, Dimitri found his way to the game known as Undertale. The look of it was very basic and pixelated, and he hadn't been too impressed when the friendly-looking flower in the introduction suddenly turned on him and tried to kill him with "friendship pellets". But the exploration phase was fun, at least.

Though was it just him, or was the game trying to guilt him into not killing Napstablook? And it _worked,_ he couldn't bring himself to kill an opponent who was crying. And when he tried to leave the ruins and Toriel attacked him he found himself choosing Spare over and over again until she backed down. Maybe it was because she'd made him a pie and been so nice to him. Or she reminded him of a warmer and more motherly Lady Rhea. Either way, he felt his chest prickle when she hugged his character and said goodbye.

_Verrrryyy clever,_ Flowey mocked him, before launching into a tirade that Dimitri wished he could just skip through. He did _not_ like this creepy demonic flower, hopefully this would be the last time he saw it.

The snowy forest introduced him to a skeleton in a hoodie who talked in a round font and claimed it was his job to capture humans. He didn't capture Dimitri, though, just hid him when another skeleton walked in and started yelling about capturing humans while the short one (Sans) made lots of puns.

"Did Alois have a hand in programming this?" Dimitri muttered, unable to stifle a snicker. He liked Sans, not in the way he quietly appreciated Toriel's kindness but Sans really did remind him of a less energetic Alois. And even if the bigger one, Papyrus, wanted to capture humans, Dimitri couldn't help laughing at his over the top energy.

He spared the next boss, because it was easier than risking his low-HP, weak character trying to beat him. Unfortunately, he heard the beginning of the curfew chime before he could move on and find a place to level-grind. Sighing, Dimitri saved the game and turned off the PC, heading back up towards the surface.

The following week ticked by with almost no incident, Dimitri mostly forgetting about the game while he trained and studied. Only when he returned to the Abyss on the next free day did he remember how much he was liking Sans and that he still had more of the snowy area to explore.

A lot of the bosses turned out to be dogs, and of course he spared them because why would he want to kill a dog? And even if he did, it wasn't as if his character could do any real damage at this point. In fact, the one boss he _did_ try to fight to the death ended up killing him and giving him a Game Over. Luckily, all his items were still there.

And then there was Papyrus, who it turned out just wanted to make friends with someone. And take him on a date to his house. Did pixellated skeletons have the _right_ to be this cute?

This time when he saved and returned to the surface, he couldn't get the game out of his mind. All night he dreamed of funny skeletons eating spaghetti and dogs giving him money for letting them escape.

"So let me get this straight," Sylvain said as they sat down for breakfast in the dining hall the next day. "This is a game where you move forward by letting the bosses _live?_ "

"Well, you can kill them if you want, but the game _makes_ you want to spare their lives," Dimitri explained. "Trust me, I thought it was odd, too, but they're like real people! Well, as much as skeletons can be, anyway." Ingrid raised an eyebrow.

"Skeletons? That sounds more like it'd be at home in a horror game."

"I know, but they have personalities, they tell jokes, Papyrus likes spaghetti-"

"Stupid boar," Felix interrupted. "RPGs aren't for dumb things like feelings and compassion, the goal is to get strong and beat up the boss."

"So how _is_ Purring Quest going?" Ingrid teased. Felix turned bright red and shoved a forkfull of eggs into his mouth, chewing angrily. Dimitri chuckled; as far as he knew Purring Quest didn't even _have_ a battle system. All the main cat did was avoid enemies and free other cats from their cages.

"Skeletons who eat spaghetti?" Sylvain laughed. "Gotta admit, that does pique my interest. But right now I'm too in love with Final Fantasy VII to consider anything else." That was how Dimitri felt about Undertale; all the other games he'd been wanting to try had been pushed to the back burner, all he could think about were Sans and Papyrus and whoever this Undyne was. He was tempted to sneak down to the Abyss later tonight just to meet her, but access to the gaming PCs was more limited during the week for surface dwellers.

So for the rest of the week he forced himself to focus on his everyday activities, and at night he would make clumsy sketches of the characters and try to come up with strategies.

"So how many monsters have you killed?" Hapi asked when he made his third weekly trip to the Abyss. Dimitri blinked.

"I haven't really kept track. I'm keeping most of the bosses alive because I know I'm not strong enough to beat them," he said. "But the monsters are just monsters, right? I still need _some_ EXP, and I need money for healing items and other supplies." Hapi frowned.

"You might wanna reconsider," she said. "A lot of people went into this game thinking it was typical and wound up scarred for life." Dimitri felt a sudden twinge of unease in his chest.

"Scarred?"

"Don't worry, you should be fine since you kept Toriel and Papyrus alive, but be careful." Hapi offered a small smile. "Good luck, Didi." As she left, he turned on the PC and loaded his most recent save. Was there really an advantage to sparing the minor monsters? So far the only enemies he'd spared turned out to be important to the story. If a Froggit or something else was important they would appear in the towns or the rest areas, not in battle.

But as he played on, Dimitri found himself letting a few of the monsters escape, because he was suddenly worried killing them would come back to haunt him later. Plus, the more he played, the more he didn't care about the battles so much as he did the story. He wanted to meet this Undyne person Papyrus was such a fan of, and he still wondered why Toriel made her home in the ruins and didn't want him to come back. And who _was_ this Asgore she warned him about?

He did get to see Sans again, though, and Napstablook, and meet a monster kid.

And then, Undyne. Who not only proved to be terrifying in battle, but told him all he needed to know about Asgore.

_Seven. Seven human souls, and King ASGORE will become a god._

Dimitri started making more trips to the Abyss during the week after that. Every battle quote, every piece of flavor text was another bread crumb of information, and by now he'd gathered that humans were the "true enemy" of this world populated by monsters. Which explained why his character was constantly being chased and threatened.

Why Toriel had wanted to keep him in the ruins forever. _She knew._ And it was too late for his character to go back, she'd told him not to and he didn't blame her, because the monsters would likely follow him and put everyone else in danger. Just like in real life, where so much as talking to anyone considered an enemy made your own side hate you.

_That might not be the reason, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was,_ he thought, blinking away tears as the battle with Undyne ended (finally) and she collapsed from the heat as she chased him. In any other game he'd have left someone like her to suffer, but here, he was afraid the game's speed wouldn't be fast enough to get her some water before she roasted to death in her armor. This was enough to make her stop chasing him and be his friend.

He played so long that by the time he reached the lab, the curfew chimes had long passed and someone was tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Didi." Hapi gave him a funny look. "I know these can be addictive but I never figured you for one to break the rules. Aren't you afraid your retainer's gonna-"

"You called?" Dimitri swore. Of course Dedue would notice he was missing and come down here, especially after he'd talked his ear off about Undertale. But right now he felt worse for making his friend worry than annoyed at his gaming being interrupted. He saved, turned off the PC, and walked guiltily to Dedue's side.

"I'm so sorry. I usually keep track of the time better than this," he sighed.

"I do not blame you," Dedue said. "Believe me, I do know how it feels to get caught up in a game to the point of forgetting everything else. Stardew Valley is tailor-made for that. However, if you think you may be late, you must tell me so in advance." Dimitri gave another sigh, this time of relief.

"I will. And you promise not to tell the professor?"

"Your highness, you know very well I am not a snitch." Dedue offered his hand, Dimitri took it, and Hapi smirked a little.

"I should be getting to bed anyway," she said. "Sleep tight, Didi, don't let the monsters bite. You two, Moles." Dedue was one of few people Hapi assigned a nickname to using their family name, and since Dedue was a gardener, it fit in Dimitri's opinion. Dedue was still deciding how he felt about it.

"I trust it was worth missing curfew?" Dedue asked as soon as he and Dimitri were back at the surface. The grounds were empty, thank the goddess. Dimitri nodded, smiling proudly.

"I beat Undyne. Or rather, I won her over," he said. "I also met Alphys. She reminds me of Bernadetta, a little, and she really, _really_ seems to like Undyne." His heart fluttered, he felt silly admitting this but he knew very well Dedue would never judge him. "One of my greatest wishes for the end of this game is to see her admit it and them to live happily ever after." Dedue chuckled.

"I feel the same way about Abigail and Sebastian in Stardew Valley," he said. "But in all seriousness, your highness, do not let this happen again."

"I won't, I promise." Dimitri bowed. "Sleep well, Dedue."

"And you as well, your highness."

Dimitri did not lose track of the time the next time he played, and this time it was even harder to keep his eye on the time. He was getting close to the final boss, Asgore, and after sparing every enemy who crossed him his character was at level four with stats that would be a joke in any other RPG.

But then two Froggits told him the story of the underground, the first human, and a prince who once lived there, and any thoughts of a boss battle fell away as Dimitri took in every word. Little by little, he'd become invested in everything about this world and its inhabitants, and he'd never imagined the story behind it would break his heart. But by the time the monsters finished talking he had to minimize Steam, burying his face in his hands as tears began to stream down his cheeks. _Two children, they were just children and they were so close...the prince only wanted his friend back, that man had no right...!_

He knew from the past battle with Umbral Beast Alferic that trying to revive a dead person was a bad idea. But this was supposed to be a fantasy world of monsters and magic, and if that villager hadn't intervened the prince could have had his friend back by his side.

It hurt too much to keep going right now. Even though it was still half an hour before curfew, Dimitri saved the game and turned off the PC. He waited for his tears to stop, went to splash his face with cold water from a nearby pitcher, and turned to leave.

"You found out, didn't you?"

"Hapi." He wiped at his cheeks. "You played the game before, didn't you."

"You haven't faced a gaming challenge until you've tried to get through it without crying," she said. "And I failed. Freaked Coco out in the process, too, when she found me she was ready to strangle someone until I told her what was really going on. Lucky for me, she understood."

"I knew I was getting in deep when I stopped killing the smaller monsters, and when I realized how close Sans and Papyrus are," Dimitri said. "I knew there was something the game wasn't telling me."

"Just be glad you stopped killing monsters. Sans's still gotta judge you before you face Asgore."

"I'm only level four," Dimitri said. "Can you..."

"Nope. Only thing I can tell you is not to worry about your stats, you'll see why," Hapi said, squeezing his shoulder. "But you look like you could use some rest, Didi. I'd say try to put the game out of your mind for a while, but we both know that's impossible."

Most people who left a story behind on a bombshell would be itching to go back to it just to see how it ended. But the thought of playing right now made it hard to catch his breath, and Dimitri spent the next few days studying and training either alone or with Dedue. He didn't feel like having the usual discussions about games with his friends, even if it was usually fun to watch Felix gush about pixellated cats and get flustered when Sylvain and Ingrid teased him.

It was almost a week before Dimitri finally had the courage to go back to the game. But he'd made up his mind he didn't want to face the end alone.

"Okay, Boar, this better be good," Felix said as he, Ingrid, Sylvain, Hapi, and Dedue made themselves comfortable around the PC. "And you owe me, remember? Next time I play Purring Quest you have to watch me."

"Oh, sure, having to watch you squeal over cats is such a price to pay," Sylvain said. "But seriously, I wanna see how this turns out, too. So far all you've done is vomit feelings at us about skeletons and dinosaurs and..."

"And dead children." Ingrid shivered. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of those horror games Mercedes plays all the time."

"It's not." Dimitri loaded his save file and walked into the final stretch of the adventure, or what he thought was the final stretch. Sans judged him as a Good Person because he'd only killed ten monsters, Asgore destroyed the Mercy option, and just when it looked like he was going to surrender, everything went crazy.

"What _is that thing?!_ " Felix shrieked, grabbing onto Ingrid as Flowey made his appearance. Dimitri bristled, he'd hoped he'd seen the last of that bastard flower after sparing Toriel. Asgore wasn't the one after the souls after all, it was the damn flower, and when the game started glitching Hapi had to reassure him it wasn't an actual problem with the computer or with Steam.

Flowey's transformation into a huge demon-beast was too reminiscent of Alferic's transformation for comfort. He felt Hapi gripping his arm as it played out, and he let her, swallowing his fear. He wasn't sure how long the battle took, but at some point he heard Ingrid and Sylvain cheering for him, and somehow he managed _not_ to get a Game Over.

When it was finally over, the game gave him a choice: kill or spare Flowey.

"It's payback time," he muttered, but Hapi stopped him.

"Don't. Trust me, if you play it again, you'll be glad you spared him. Can't tell you why, but do it anyway."

So he did. Flowey didn't understand and frankly, neither did Dimitri. But he spared Flowey, and the game ended with an update on how things were going. Except it wasn't such a happy ending because the monsters were trapped. And worse...

"What happened with Alphys and Undyne?!" he moaned out loud. Dedue put a hand on his shoulder.

"Priorities," he said, "his highness has them." Dimitri huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So what now?"

"You'll have to play again for a better ending," Hapi said with a wink. "But maybe you'd better take a break for a while. A real break, too, maybe play something that doesn't involve thinking or feeling."

It would be two moons before Dimitri went back to the Abyss to start a new game.


End file.
